Progress made on Route 16 bridge construction

Thursday

May 3, 2007 at 12:01 AMMay 3, 2007 at 3:16 AM

While acknowledging that progress has been “painfully slow,” state Rep. Alice Peisch (D-Wellesley) said this week that plans to restart work on the Route 16 bridge in Wellesley are moving forward again.

Brad Reed, Townsman Staff

While acknowledging that progress has been “painfully slow,” state Rep. Alice Peisch (D-Wellesley) said this week that plans to restart work on the Route 16 bridge in Wellesley are moving forward again.

“The progress that has been made is that bonding company that determines who gets to be the replacement contractor is negotiating with a replacement contractor,” she said. “The MassHighway legal department is now reviewing the takeover agreement that the bonding company has negotiated with the replacement contractor.”

Peisch said that she expected MassHighway to finish reviewing the proposed agreement within the next week. If the agreement is approved and then signed, construction on the bridge can begin.

Peisch said that the replacement contractor for the bridge construction will not be named publicly until the agreement is finalized.

She does not want to put a timetable on how long construction will take. “The whole situation has been so incredibly frustrating,” she said. “And until I get the final word from the people doing this, I don’t want to commit on even guessing when this project could be finished.”

Construction on the Route 16 bridge was officially halted last November, when MassHighway terminated contractor Roads Construction for its failure to perform.